Measurement and Instrumentation

Through my semester-long project for this class, I delved deeper into my handmade watercolor paint. Over the course of a semester, I explored how varying ingredient ratios affected the brittleness and vibrancy of watercolor paint. As I conducted three-point bending tests on dried paint samples and determined the absorbance spectrum of dissolved paint, I learned how to organize and analyze data. My research culminated in a final paper, which won second prize for engineering writing at the 2023 MIT Ilona Karmel Writing Awards. I also shared my research and statistical analysis in a poster presentation. My findings helped me determine the ideal formula for preventing cracking in my dried paint, which has helped me provide higher quality paint for my customers. This turned out to be my favorite class at MIT so far; I really enjoyed the process of testing samples and analyzing the results, especially because the subject was so important to me. This project confirmed my passion for research and made me excited to pursue similar work in the future.

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Click on the gallery on the right to expand the poster to read more about my research!